Family - Marriage, Children
Biblical roles & characteristics of husband, wife & children.
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Grace Bible ChurchSolutions to Foolishness in Marriage, Pt. 1 - Selected Scriptures
(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris' weekly sermons via e-mail, Click here) Pastor Scott L. Harris
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Grace Bible Church
(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris' weekly sermons via e-mail, Click here) Pastor Scott L. Harris Grace Bible Church, NY
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Grace Bible ChurchProverbs on Family, Part 1: The Foundation - Selected Scriptures
(If you would like to receive Pastor Harris' weekly sermons via e-mail, Click here) Pastor Scott L. Harris
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Grace Bible ChurchWomen Worth Emulating
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Grace Bible ChurchThe Role of Parents, Part 4 - Transitioning Teens
( If you would like to receive Pastor Harris' weekly sermons via e-mail, Click here) Pastor Scott L. Harris Grace Bible Church, NY May 1, 2011
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The Role of Parents, Part 3 - Proverbs on Parenting. In this Pastor Harris deals with the issue of parenting according to the world's wisdom or God's wisdom and then examines some of the many Proverbs that parents need to apply in their own lives and teach to their children. The difference will be whether you raise your children to be wise young adults or fools.
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The Role of the Parents, Part 2 - Colossians 3:21 & Selected Scriptures. In this sermon Pastor Harris discusses the major prohibitions and prescriptions of raising children - do not provoking them to anger or exasperate them causing them to lose heart and bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
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The Role of Parents, Pt. 1 - Colossians 3:21. The Biblical commands and principles concerning parenting are largely ignored or rejected by most of American society leading to a serious disintegration of the family. Even professing Christians have been unduly influenced by secular philosophy and advice. Pastor Harris calls parents back to a serious consideration of the responsibilities God had placed on parents.
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The Role of Children - Colossians 3:20. The understanding of children and their place in the family has been turned upside down in most of American society by the influence of secular philosophy and psychology. In this sermon Pastor Harris makes it clear what the Bible teaches about the role of children with in the family and why it is so much superior so secular philosophy.
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The Role of the Husband - Colossians 3:19 A good marriage is dependent upon the husband and wife fulfilling their God given roles. In this sermon Pastor Harris concentrates on the responsibilities that God has placed upon the man including loving his wife, not being embittered against her, leading her and providing for her.
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The Role of the Wife - Colossians 3:18. God instituted marriage, so only He can define it and only He knows how it best works. Contrary to modern social ideas which have been so negatively effected by feminism, God has a specific role for both the wife and husband that will counter the curse of sin and bring the relationship back into complimentary harmony instead of conflict. Those who have been changed by Jesus Christ can fulfill this role and reap its blessings.
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Becoming a Godly Father - In this Father's Day sermon, Pastor Harris describes the character of a godly father from Psalm 1, Psalm 15 and selected scriptures and concludes with how a man can develop those characteristics.
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Will the Real Men Please Stand Up! -Pastor Scott L. Harris, June 15, 2008. There are many ideas about what it means to be a real man. Pastor Harris exposes the false ideas promoted by our society and gives a clear Biblical description of manliness.
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A Dad's Involvement - Father's Day Message - June 17, 2007. Every dad will leave a legacy. The question is simply what will that legacy be? Those who follow God's design for the family will leave a legacy of blessing not only to the descendant, but to all society as well. Those that do not leave a curse to both. In this sermon Pastor Harris traces the responsibilities God has given to dads in 1) loving their family; 2) providing for them what they really need, not want; 3) Teaching them through instruction, example and discipline.
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The Incredible Worth of a Woman This sermon addresses the incredible worth a woman has in simply being a woman by God's design.and apart from those things valued in this society due to feminist influence. Feminism has been detrimental to women due to its preference for male rather than female qualities. The woman that seeks to fulfill God's design for her as a woman and as an individual has a worth that is inestimable.
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The Characteristics of a Godly Woman
Selected Scriptures
Happy Mothers Day to you. We are glad that our society has designated a day
to recognize the importance of motherhood. Perhaps that is even more important
in an age when political feminism belittles motherhood and what is actually
feminine on a daily basis. They disdain those whom who focus their attention and
place their priority on their children and homes. Such women are failures in
their eyes, though I have seen articles by feminists in recent years in which at
least a few of them finally understand the major flaws in their philosophy of
life. They have entered into their 50's with solid careers behind them, but with
great loneliness and sense of failure. They have either never been married or
only had a string of failed marriages behind them. In addition, they often do
not have any children, or if they do they are often estranged from them because
feminism teaches selfishness and independence both of which eat away at the
parent / child relationship. From my own point of view, they could not be too
happy about the overall damage they have done to our society.
Feminism may have failed to recognize the importance of motherhood, but we
have not. The family is foundational to society and through their influence on
their children, mothers set and keep the culture for a society.
They say that man is mighty,
He governs land and sea;
He wields a mighty scepter
On lower powers than he,
But mightier power & stronger
Man from his throne has hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world"
Thank you ladies for your selfless sacrifice for the welfare of your
family and for our society.
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The Few. The Proud. That is the current recruiting slogan for the U.S.
Marine Corps, but being a bit older, I will always associate the Marines with,
Looking for a Few Good Men. It is not that the Marines required these
recruits to already meet the Marine standard, but that the recruit was willing
to go through what would be needed to make them into those "Few Good Men." To be
a Marine, you have to learn self discipline, submission to authority,
commitment, endurance, loyalty, integrity. Each of those are qualities that
should be in any man, not just Marines. The tragedy is that it does end up being
the few, not the many, that meet the standard.
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Something that I have noticed over the years, and perhaps you have also
noticed the same thing, is that our society no longer looks at motherhood the
way that it did when I was a kid. Back in the 50's and 60's, society respected
motherhood, and mothers were proud of their role in the home and in society. In
current times, there is a serious question in the minds of many whether being a
mom is a blessing or a curse. What are some of the reasons for these changes?
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One of the greatest areas of human pride is a parent over
their children. I have met adults that can accept criticism in
any other area that will not accept any criticism of their
children. My friends, Gary & Ann Marie Ezzo, who founded and
lead Growing Families International and whose material most of
today’s sermon is based, have received severe and unjust
criticism and condemnation over the years from folks who, from my
view, do not like their parenting practices challenged. Some of
them do not like the idea that they carry responsibility for the
kind of adult their child becomes. Others react strongly because
their area of greatest pride, their children, has been
challenged. With that in mind, it is always with some trepidation
that I venture into the area of child rearing, yet like the
Ezzo’s, regardless of what reaction I receive, it is more
important that the principles of God’s word be proclaimed
concerning how we raise our children.
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Last week we began looking at Ephesians 6:4 and the role of
parents in the family, but we only got as far as the second word,
"fathers." We must take seriously the responsibilities
God has entrusted to us in giving us children. The task is
something that is utterly beyond you or me, but with God’s
grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, our children can be
brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is also
so good to know that when I fail in carrying out all the Lord's
commands to me concerning my children, God, as my loving heavenly
Father, wants me to learn and do better, so He is ready to
forgive me as I confess my sins to Him.
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Over the last two weeks we have been discussing the family as
part of our "Holy and Free" series. As Christians, we
have a lot of freedom in Christ to choose the specifics of how
wey will live within the parameters of pursuing holiness
according to the commands and precepts of God’s Word. This
is also true when it comes to the family. Each family will be
different from every other Christian family in many specific
areas, but every Christian must still fulfill the role that God
has designed for them within those families. We have already
discussed the role of the wife, the role of the husband and the
role of the children. This morning we will examine Ephesians 6:4
and the role of the parents.
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I think most people understand and would agree that the
radical changes that have occurred in our society over the last
two generations have resulted in the family being in trouble. I
pointed out in an earlier sermon that the 2000 Census figures
show that only 52.8% of households are now headed by married
couples. Single parent families now account for over a 1/4 of all
households. Overall, 30% of children now born in the U.S. are to
single mothers, with that figure rising to over 70% in some
sub-cultures. These figures do not even count the number of
children never born because the mother chose abortion instead of
life for her child. Marriage rates have dropped as people delay
marriage until later in life or never do get married. Divorce
rates remain high.
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This morning I want us to
return to our Holy & Free series that I have delayed for the last 6 weeks so
that we could look at the purpose of the church. Remember that our purpose
here is to Glorify God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ through
Communicating New Life in Christ, Cultivating New Life in Christ, Caring for
New Life in Christ and Celebrating New life in Christ. In our Holy & Free
series we have already covered a lot of topics including as drugs, drinking,
dancing, dress, music, entertainment, leisure, dating, courtship, marriage,
and having children. Before we get into our exposition of the book of
Philippians sometime next month. I want to expand on the subjects of marriage
and children. There is a lot of freedom in the specifics of how a marriage
might function and in the specifics of how children are raised, but there are
also some very clear Biblical principles for both that we need to clearly
understand if the specifics are to fit within Biblical parameters.
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This morning we are going to be looking at the Scriptures to
see what God says about children, both having them and raising
them. It is fitting to do this today since we will be having a
baby dedication later in the service.
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This morning we will continue in the series of messages I have
entitled "Holy & Free." We have been examining the
scriptures to see what Biblical commands, principles and precepts
apply to various areas of everyday life. Many people strive to
live the Christian life bound by non-Biblical rules that not only
steal the joy out of walking with Christ, but are often
legalistic in that they define righteousness by standards that
God did not set. Other people go to the opposite of extreme in
which they view the liberty spoken of in 2 Cor. 3:17 or the
freedom spoken of in Gal. 5:1 as license to do whatever they
want. But neither is true.
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I want to address the topic of A Father's Responsibilitythis morning because I will be in Florida on Father's Day and since I addressed the ladies last week, I wanted to give the men equal time. Pastor Scott L. Harris Grace Bible Church, NY May 20, 2001 A Father's Responsibility Deuteronomy 6:1-9Introduction:
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"Mother's Day" was started in 1908 by Anna M. Jarvis of West Virginia, who by the way, was
childless herself. She persuaded local churches to honor mothers. She worked to promote the idea, but
actually became embittered as commercialism began to encroach on the holiday. What began as an
encouragement to churches to express sincere thanks and honor to our too often "taken-for-granted"
mothers in their vital role in raising godly offspring has turned into an obligation for everyone to buy a
card, flowers, etc. for whoever. (I am still confused about which "mom" is to be honored - my wife, the
mother of my children, or my mom for raising me, or maybe the grandmothers are to honor their
daughters who are raising their grandchildren? This does not even get into the confusion of adding in
adoptive moms, step-mom's, and foster care moms).
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The Declaration of Independence states that one of the reasons for the formation of this country, this society we call "America" was to be able to engage in the "pursuit of happiness." And Americans are certainly engaged in that pursuit. Of course everyone seems to have their own twist to what will make them happy. For some it is money, others power, prestige or fame. Some just want a simple life without care, while others want to live in the fast pace life of the Rat Race. Some look for happiness within themselves, and others outside themselves.
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Today is "Father's Day" and I will be speaking about what it means to be a "real man" today. You men
and boys need to pay close attention so you know what you are supposed to be. You young ladies also need to
pay attention because these are the characteristics you should be looking for in the man you will marry
someday. You married ladies also need to pay attention because these are the qualities you need to encourage
your husband to aspire too. Please note I said, "encourage" and not "nag." Where you see that your husband
lacks, you need to build him up, not tear him down.
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Some years ago the Miss Manners column in the Newspaper made some interesting statements
concerning Mother's Day in our modern society. It bears repeating because the situation has not gotten any
better.
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When a society abandons God's word as its standard of morality, then it will reap the
consequences. The greatest threat to the family in our society is its dissolution through divorce.
Our divorce rate is not high because families are decaying, our families are decaying because so
many husbands and wives are following their own will instead of God's design for marriage and
the family. This leads directly to family strife, divorce and then family dissolution. Divorce has a
high cost financially, personally and for society since it erodes the foundation of a healthy society.
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I first preached on this passage more than six years ago. James Dobson of Focus on the
Family was using then the phrase "civil war" to describe the moral turmoil our nation was in. That
is still a fitting description of what is going on between those still holding to a Judeao-Christian
Ethic and those who have fallen under the influence of secular humanism which is the philosophy
now controlling much of our governmental and school systems.
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What the Bible Says about Divorce - Selected Scriptures. The views of divorce range from allowing it for any reason at any time to not allowing it at all. The Bible has much to say about the issue (which would be expected since God created marriage). Pastor Harris explores the many relevant passages so that we might know God's commands and will on the issue instead of just yielding to our own thoughts and feelings.
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